Professor sues UT
History scholar alleges retaliation, discrimination over his work to expose pay inequity for Hispanic faculty at the university
Alleging retaliation and employment discrimination stemming from his efforts to document pay inequity at the University of Texas, a history professor is suing the institution in federal court.
Alberto Martinez, a history of science scholar, accused the university and his former department chair of a “relentless campaign” to deter efforts to “correct longstanding, systemic disparities in opportunities and pay for Hispanic faculty at UT” in a lawsuit filed last week in Austin.
“This case is important not only because such retaliation must always be reported and penalized,” the lawsuit said, “but because it involves equity for esteemed Hispanic faculty at a major public university.”
Going deep into inter-departmental politics, the lawsuit discussed alleged differences between Martinez and Jacqueline Jones, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and scholar of race, slavery and class who was also chair of the history department.
After Martinez raised questions about pay equity, Jones appointed Martinez in 2018 to lead a new committee on equity.
The lawsuit suggests the two were soon at odds, however, after Martinez issued a draft report showing pay disparities and lack of promotions to positions of leadership within the department, especially for Hispanic and Black employees.
The suit claimed Jones stymied a final report and considered disbanding the committee.
Jones, the president-elect of the American Historical Association, did not respond to requests for comment. The current chair of the UT History Department also did not return a request for comment.
The lawsuit claims, among other things, that Jones falsely accused Martinez of writing disparaging statements about female co-workers.
And it said that “Jones accused Martinez of stating that Jones only gave promotions in the History Department to Jewish faculty members, and that such statements have caused a ‘toxic environment’ and sowed division between Jewish and non-Jewish faculty.”
The allegation “was absurd,” the lawsuit said, “because (a) ‘Martinez’ is a Jewish Hispanic last name, (b) Martinez is one of the only faculty who teaches an entire course on a Jewish person, Albert Einstein, eight times since 2005, (c) Martinez has taught two courses on Scientists and Religion in History, including Judaism, (d) Martinez has taught about the Holocaust in 16 additional courses since 2006, and (e) none of Martinez’s hundreds of students or coworkers ever claimed that he said anything against Jewish people.”
University officials did not immediately return a request for comment.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified money damages, saying Martinez has suffered “humiliation, embarrassment, emotional and physical distress, and mental anguish.”
Martinez told the AmericanStatesman that “the actions against me are symptomatic of other negative experiences endured by some Hispanic faculty at UT Austin, who don’t speak up because of fear of retaliation.”
“Time and again I’ve seen Hispanic faculty leave because of what, I believe, is disparate treatment or worse,” he said.
A 2019 report published by a group of UT professors, including Martinez, found that Hispanic faculty members at UT lag behind their counterparts in salary, leadership positions and head counts, according to a recently released report.
The report showed Hispanics in 2017 made up about 7 percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty and that of the 98 academic departments and equivalent units, only six department chairs were Hispanic.
The report also said Hispanic full professors on average were paid about $25,000 less than their white counterparts, Hispanic associate professors were paid about $10,600 less, and Hispanic assistant professors were paid about $19,600 less.